Improvement in match-safes



J. GILBERT. Match-Safe.

No. 205,954 Patented July 16, 1878'.

UNITED STATE-s PATENT OEEIoE.

JoEN GILBERT, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, AssicNoR To JAMEs, AIEMAN a co., or sAME rLAcE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MATCH-SAFES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 205,954, (lated July 167 1878; application tiled May 15, 1878.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OEN GILBERT, of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Match Safes, which improvement is fully described in the following specication.

My invention relates to an improvement in the construction of match-safes, whereby the cost of manufacture is reduced and an article of convenient shape and tasty appearance produced from a single piece of sheet metal.

To accomplish this object, I first cut out by any suitable means a blank shaped substantially as shown in Figure 1, (which, with Fig. 2, is drawn to half the scale used in Figs. 3 and 4,) the part marked A being designed for the back otl the safe, B the bottom, C the front, and D D the ends. The bottom B is in the middle of the blank, the back A being attached to its rear edge, the front C to the opposite edge, and the ends D are merely extensions of the front piece C.

Dotted lines a and b show the places at which the front and back are bent up to form the receptacle, the ends being bent into acurve where they join the front, and secured to the back A in any convenient manner.

Fig. 2 shows a front elevation of the box complete, the blank being bent to the required sha-pe; Fig. 3, a plan of the safe complet-e; and Fig. 4, a section through X X, Fig. 3.

As seen in Fig. 2, the back extends above the receptacle, to offer a means of han gin g the safe to a wall.

In Fig. 2 is shown the curved shape of the front corners, this shape being determined by the configuration of the bottom, which is designed with a straight outline where marked a, to be bent and curved from thence toward the back in any manner to avoid an angular corner in front, which would destroy the tasty appearance of the safe.

Attached to each end of the back A, in Fig. 1, is shown an ear, E, which is to be bent forward at right angles to the back, and the ends of the sides D D secured thereto by solder or otherwise.

Similar ears F are shown formed upon the bottom of the sides D in the blank, which are to be bent under the bottom B to support it at the ends.

rlhe ears for securing the sides to the back may, if preferred, be formed on the ends instead of the back, as indicated in dotted lines at G on the blank.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the appearance of the safe when complete, and indicate clearly how I construct a strong and tasty match-safe with round or curved front corners from a single blank of sheet metal without the finished construction presenting any seam in the front.

I am aware that match safes have been made of a single blank of sheet metal, and I do not therefore claim such a construction broadly, but consider my invention to lie in thus producing a safe without any seam at the front corners and of a shape hitherto attained only by the use of two or more pieces.

A lid, II, may be attached by means of a hinge, formed by bending an ear, c, on the rear end of the cover, into a cylindrical shape, and through it passing a wire, cl, upon which the lid swings. The wire d isfastened by passing through slots e e in the back A.

In order that the hinge may not project behind the back of the box, and thus render the safe unsteady, the portion f of the back A included between the slots e eis bent so as to pass behind and above the ear c, and the other portion, outside the slots, is made to pass below and in front of the wire d, the whole back above the receptacle being set forward the thickness of the ear c, excepting the space j' for the ear between the slots. If desired, this part of the back may be bent as shown in dotted lines at h, Fig. 4, so that the top may touch the surface against which the safe is fastened.

I am aware that hinges such as I have described are already known, and do not therefore make any claim to the construction of the cover or hinge.

I am also aware that match-boxes with the same general shape as mine have been used before, and I do not therefore claim the shape, except as produced by the particular mode specified--that is to say, by cutting a blank ofthe shape shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and forming` the baek,botto1n, front, and sides by bending the blank in the manner described.

Having thus described my invention7 what I claim, and desire to seenre by Letters latent, is-

A match-safe constructed, with the exception of the lid, from a single blank ot sheet metal, shaped as shown, and bent to forni a receptaele shaped snbstantiall as set forth.

1n testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I hereto subscribe my naine in presenee 0f two witnesses.

JOHN GILBERT.

Witnesses:

Tnos. S. VRANF., l. l. lonlcms. 

